This invention relates generally to de-mountable sunshade canopy structures and in particular sunshade canopies for ultraviolet (UV) sun ray protection of childrens"" play areas.
It is increasingly acknowledged that physically challenging outdoor play structures are of benefit to the physical and emotional development of young children. A code of safety specifications for the construction and maintenance of childrens"" play structures has been developed by National Play and Playground Authorities, published (1996) by the National Recreation and Park Association Arlington, Va. These construction specifications describe construction features for support of childrens"" slides, swings, climbing apparatus, etc. which minimize risk of injury to children engaged in all manner of predictable use and misuse of the play structures.
The specifications require that the play structures be mounted on a platform or on towers elevated up to six feet above a resilient (non-hardened) surface such as cork or rubber panels, and the towers or platform be supported by a very limited number of support columns. The columns are to be capped at the top and without exterior fittings on which a child could be caught or injured while climbing upon or falling from the platform or tower. The support columns are capped at the top to discourage a child from climbing or holding on suspended from the column top. The vertical support columns have been in the past a source of injures to children engaged in unintended use of these structures. Accordingly, the minimum number of vertical support columns, all free of hand or foot holds, has become a specification for acceptable safe design.
Separate from the safe construction design specifications referred to above which have and are significantly reducing playground injuries there is a growing theat to childrens"" health when they are engaged in outdoor play and exercise in the sun shine.
The earth""s protective atmosphere ozone layer has been significantly depleted due to release of chemical pollutants into the atmosphere during the last five decades. The result of the ozone depletion is that the solar ultraviolet (UV) rays are significantly more intense and comprise a serious health risk to children without protection when playing in the now unfiltered UV sun radiation.
In 1930 the risk of developing melanoma from sun exposure was 1 in 1500 people. Today a person""s risk of developing skin cancer at some time during their life as a result of UV exposure is 1 in 75 people. Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States, with more than one million new cases diagnosed each year. Currently this year 47,700 Americans will be diagnosed with life threatening melanoma and 7,700 will die of the disease. The current prognosis for this disease is that approximately 1 out of 5 children in the United States will experience some form of skin cancer during their lifetime. Furthermore, exposure to the current intensity of solar UV radiation reduces the effectiveness of the immune system. This effect is of special importance in children""s health.
Sources of the above statistics are to be found in publications of the American Academy of Dermatology, American Cancer Society, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Center for Disease Control and Protection and the Australian Cancer Society.
It is a first object of our invention to provide a sturdy, wind resistant, demountable canopy structure suitable for shading a childrens"" play area from direct rays of the sun.
Another object of our invention is to provide a sturdy, wind resistant, demountable sun shade canopy for mounting on vertical support columns as used in childrens"" standard safe outdoor play structures. The sun shade canopy structure as described herein, is in full compliance with recommended safety specifications for childrens"" play areas.
Still another object of our invention is to provide a sturdy, wind resistant, demountable sun shade canopy design adaptable to retrofit existing small area and extended childrens"" play area installations with effective sun shade protection.
These and other objects and advantages and diverse uses of our invention will be apparent from consideration of the following illustrations, specifications and claims.
A demountable, wind resistant sun shade canopy suitable for mounting on a limited number of vertical columns, erected for the purpose of, or suitable for mounting on, extensions of a limited number of standard safe play area support columns. The canopy support structure, comprised of a plurality of uniquely shaped brackets which, when each is fixedly mounted, respectively, to the top of a vertical column, provides at each column a mount for a cantilever extending outward toward the perimeter of the area to be shaded, and simultaneously provides for mount of a hip beam extending toward the inner portion of the area to be shaded. Thus an extended-area rigid support structure is provided over a designated area which may be dependably shaded from the sun rays when a high density knitted polyethylene porous canopy cover is placed over the unique bracket supported plurality of cantilever and hip beam support members and secured about the perimeter of the canopy cover with an adjustable tension means.